Rhode Island Department of Education
Lesson Plan

Lesson Title:

State Standards: GLEs/GSEs

National Standards:

NS 9-12.4 Earth and Space Science
The evolution of the Earth system
Content Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
Science and Technology in local, national, and global challenges

Context of Lesson:

Overview of lesson, including: where it fits in unit, what are key ideas and what will students be doing.

Opportunities to Learn:

Depth of Knowledge

Level 2
  • students will have to comprehend the material they have gathered from the text, and compose it into a few easy-to-understand points to present to the class

Prerequisite Knowledge

Students should have a prior knowledge of faults and subduction zones etc. from the previous classes. This knowledge is necessary for them to understand and process the introductory question.

Plans for Differentiating Instruction

Some students find that learning material straight from the text is helpful, during this lesson, they can do so. For students who work better by intercommunication or by auditory or visual means, the presentations of the jigsaw will cater to them.

Accommodations and modifications

Environmental factors

Students will be in different seats than normal because they will be randomly groups for the jigsaw activity.

Materials

Poster paper (large)
markers
resources on types of volcanoes
  • computer
  • text book (Modern Earth Science, Holt Rinehart and Winston)
  • print resources
Overhead of images
Arc Volcano
Hot Spot Volcano
Cascades Volcano

Notes on Shield Volcanoes
Fissure
Strato or Composite
Cinder Cone
Dome

Objectives:

Students will
  • complete a jigsaw assignment on the types of volcanoes

Instruction:

Opening:

I will start by asking the students to write their original thoughts of this question. "The last few classes we have determined that earthquakes are related to plate boundaries, do you think volcanoes are also related? If so Why? If not, why not?"
Students will then record their answers. I expect most students to determine that there is a correlation, because of the nature of the question, however I expect students will not completely understand why. Also some types of volcanoes are not on a plate boundary, rather they are on a hot spot, this will be introduced. Once students have recorded their answers I will ask students to share their answers in a welcoming atmosphere (I will not critisize their answers).

Engagement:

After we have determined the correlation to plate boundaries, and discussed hot spots, the students will begin a jigsaw activity. We will be learning about 5 main types of volcanoes. Students will randomly be put into groups 1-5. Each group will be assigned a type of volcano to compose notes about. Students will be given a half an hour to put together a rough poster of their type of volcano, including...
  • name of type of volcano
  • characteristics
  • example
  • lava characteristics
  • eruptivity
Students will be assigned to complete this activity for next class and prepare a 3 minute presentation on their material.

I would suggest reversing your order. Why not have students build their knowledge of volcanoes and then use their knowledge to plot the volcano locations and hypothesize the relation between location and plate boundaries? As a general rule: YOU giving answers is boring because it is just another external authority spewing information that can't be checked. THEY finding answers, or finding out how their answers fit into a "neat" whole is more interesting.

Closure:

I will wrap up the class by checking the progress of each unit project group. I will be asking the groups about how much more they have to do, and ask them if they are stuck on anything.

Assessment:

Throughout this class, I will be informally assessing the groups working on the jigsaw. I would expect that most of the work be completed during the class time given. The following class the groups will present their jigsaw material, and this will be graded.

Reflections

(only done after lesson is enacted)

Student Work Sample 1 – Approaching Proficiency:

Student Work Sample 2 – Proficient:

Student Work Sample 3 – Exceeds Proficiency: